The BEST of Beauty; January Round up

While some beauty and fashion bloggers will have a full 20 plus items they will have tried in a month. Me its two. Well actually 5 as I scooped up a new concealer and tinted moisturizer, but the two above are the ones I am going to rave about.

First I want to talk about Olia from Garnier.

I have been dying my hair for about 10 years. I started going grey when I was 20 and so by the time I was 25 it was time to cover. Now I have as much grey hair as some 50 year olds! I will probably have a full head of silver hair in 10 more years. Ok that might be a slight exaggeration but you get the idea. I have grey, enough that is noticeable.

The last time I used a box colour my hairdresser immediately gave me a suggestion of a salon brand I could use at home. It is fantastic, but I do worry about putting so many chemicals on my scalp on a monthly (ok probably closer to 2 months) rotation. Still the Igora Royal that I pick up at Cosmetic World is fantastic and covers grey amazingly well.

My interest was piqued by the Olia line however because there is no ammonia. Could this cover my grey for half the price of my salon colour? It was on special and since I am regularly at Shoppers Drug Mart and not usually in the area of Cosmetic World I thought ok why not try. Worst case I go back to what I was using before.

I was pleasantly surprised. There was absolutely no chemically smell. Which is fantastic because I don’t know about you but I tend to feel a bit headache-y after 30 mins of hair colouring.

I liked how the dye didn’t seem to dye my scalp or skin. This is the drawback of novice home hair dye jobs is that more dye than likely should ends up on my scalp (ears, forehead). I didn’t have this problem at all with Olia. Now this could be because I wasn’t as liberal with the dye or because of the formulation. I am not an expert so I don’t know.

I thought the application was fine, but I think they would do better with a bowl/brush system. Since none of the product comes within the applicator I would switch to a system that more closely mimics a salon experience and provide a better application. Personally I am considering having these on hand for next time and avoid the applicator for next time.

As for the grey coverage, I think it did an good job. Good, but not amazing. I still get better grey coverage from the Igora Royal line that is used in salons (but is also ammonia based). But compared to other box colour, it did fantastic. I really want to test it out again for two reasons. I totally cheated and had damp hair which is not recommended. I want to follow the directions to the letter and see if the grey hairs absorb the colour even more. I also want to test out the colour with a brush instead of the application. I think this will allow for better coverage as well.

Have you tried Olia from Garnier?

Ok so the other product I tried is the Arbonne Primer.

This product is freaking amazing. I have raved about Arbonne products in the past. They are vegan and really cut out anything that is just gross to slather on your skin. So I have been thinking more about the fact that I worry about what moisturizer I put on but still use the same cosmetics.

So I attended an Arbonne party (much like any other home party business) and tried out the cosmetics. I noticed the different texture of the Arbonne Primer right away.

I have used a few different ones. The Laura Mercier one is more like a milky moisturizer, where as the Bobbi Brown one is more like a creme. The Arbonne Primer is more like a silky gel. But the way the concealer and foundation glides over the primer and the coverage you get is what makes this product really amazing. I am sold on Arbonne cosmetics.

What cosmetics line do you use? Have you tried to go vegan or organic?